Help for Troy’s waterless comes from outside city

TROY >> While city officials continued to claim no responsibility for frozen water service lines which have left approximately five buildings without water for 10 days, others stepped in to provide the affected residents with water and construction services Thursday.

Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple took about 10 cases of water to one home on Fourth Street on Wednesday and Thursday, which were distributed to other neighbors in need. At that home, Eric Daus lives with his elderly mother, who is dying from stage four lung cancer.

Apple said his team would return Friday if the residents needed more water.

“We just wanted to make sure the people were all set,” said Apple.

Talk radio host Paul Vandenburgh, president of Talk 1300 AM, said on-air he would hire a contractor to fix the problem.

Department of Public Utilities Director Chris Wheland said the city was only responsible for the water mains, and the residents are responsible for service lines, which can stretch past the curb and into the road. Wheland said Wednesday the city had freed up crews to assist private contractors hired to thaw service lines.

Wheland said in 2005, the city owned the necessary equipment to thaw service lines but nearly burned down one home performing the fix. After that, the city got rid of the equipment and changed the laws to require a licensed contractor for the procedure.

Wheland estimated the cost would be around $500 to $1,000. He said it was difficult to estimate the time the pipes would take to thaw themselves, but guessed one to two weeks of temperatures above freezing.

During a press conference, Rosamilia said he was conflicted.

“My personal feelings about the situation do not align with my responsibility as the mayor of Troy,” said Rosamilia.

The legal opinion of Deputy Corporation Counsel Thomas Kenney was that “thawing of pipes is not the responsibility of the Department [of Public Utilities] nor is the Department’s responsibility to pay for a private contractor.”

Kenney said he believed the pipes were city-owned.

Rosamilia said because the problem was not the city’s responsibility, fixing it would be like “gifting” taxpayer money to residents.

Rosamilia said alternative housing had been offered to the affected families Tuesday.

Council member Jim Gordon, R-District 1, made public a resolution urging the mayor to act to restore water to the affected properties, which he planned to introduce during the council’s meeting last night.

Other council members also spoke out this week asking the city to fix the problem.

“This is cut and dry. Please get it done and stop offering excuses. No resident should be forced to go without water for more than a week,” Councilmember Ken Zalewski, D-District 5, wrote in an email to the mayor and deputy mayor.

The mayor said if the council was inclined, it could change the city charter to allow the city to thaw the pipes.

About 60 buildings have been affected by frozen pipes in the last few weeks, but most have been resolved, said city officials Wednesday. Wheland advised residents to leave faucets on at a slow trickle to prevent pipes from freezing.